Winding shaft and method for inserting a winding shaft into a winding device

ABSTRACT

A winding shaft with a winding body and shaft journals that are positioned or situated at the ends of the winding body and are configured for insertion into a winding device. The winding body is composed of a winding sleeve that is open at the ends and the shaft journals each has an insertion section with clamping, with which they can be inserted into the end of the winding sleeve and detachably clamped to the winding sleeve, and together with it, constitute the winding shaft. This invention also discloses a method for inserting a winding shaft into a winding device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a winding shaft with a winding body and shaft journals that are positioned at the ends of the winding body and are configured for insertion into a winding device. This invention also relates to a method for inserting a winding shaft into a winding device, in which the winding shaft has a winding body and shaft journals that are positioned at the ends of the winding body, with which the winding shaft is inserted into corresponding recesses of the winding device.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Winding shafts for insertion into a winding device e.g. for winding web-like material such as webs of plastic film, fleece, and paper, are known and usually have a winding body equipped with winding journals at the ends of the winding body that are configured for insertion into the winding device and are held, for example, by corresponding winding arms of the device. In this connection, the winding shafts can be set into rotation indirectly through frictional contact with a contact roller or also directly by a rotary drive acting on the shaft journals and the web-like wound product.

Winding devices of this kind are known, for example, from German Patent Reference DE 40 39 048 C2 and European Patent Reference EP 1184312 A1.

The winding is usually carried out with a sleeve that is slid onto the winding body and affixed to it in a rotationally secured, but detachable fashion by suitable clamping means, such as a sleeve made of cardboard as described in German Patent Reference DE 86 04 891 U1. In so doing, it is also possible with a so-called multi-use winding, to place a plurality of sleeves onto the winding shaft that each extend only over a part of the axial length of the winding body and to already correspondingly divide the supplied wound product in advance by longitudinal cuts for the separate uses.

Known winding devices for winding material webs of particularly large widths, however, usually use laterally arranged mounts, such as clamping arbors, that fix winding sleeves extending continuously across the entire width and transmit the torque, as described for example in German Patent Reference DE 1 574 438 A1. With large winding widths, winding sleeves of this kind have less of a tendency to flex as compared to a solid winding shaft with a sleeve slid onto it. Winding devices with laterally arranged mounts for continuous winding sleeves, however, usually cannot accommodate winding shafts, making them unsuitable for a multi-use winding. In addition, when winding a narrow material web onto a winding device that is suitable for winding wide material webs, an unnecessarily wide winding sleeve must be kept on hand, which protrudes far beyond the finished winding and causes handling difficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of this invention is to provide winding shafts of the type mentioned above as well as a method for inserting a winding shaft into winding devices, which shafts and methods overcome disadvantages of the prior art and offer a greater degree of flexibility when winding material webs.

In order to attain the above object and others, this invention provides a winding shaft having features described in this specification and in the claims.

One method according to this invention for inserting a winding shaft into the winding device is described in this specification and in the claims.

Advantageous embodiments and modifications of this invention are described in this specification and in the claims.

This invention provides a winding shaft so that the winding body is composed of a winding sleeve that is open at the ends and the shaft journals each have an insertion section with clamping or clamping means, with which they can be inserted into the ends of the winding sleeve and detachably clamped to the winding sleeve, and together constitute the winding shaft. A winding shaft that is composed in this way of a winding sleeve and shaft journals detachably fastened to the winding sleeve is equivalent in its dimensions to a known winding shaft, but on wide winding machines, also permits the winding of parent rolls on a continuous winding sleeve without the risk of excessive deflection and/or extreme weight of the winding shaft.

One corresponding winding device can be embodied according to the known design principles of a winding device for winding shafts and with the use of the winding shafts according to this invention, permits the winding onto a continuous sleeve and also, through the use of a conventional winding shaft with winding sleeves mounted on it, a multi-use winding in accordance with the respective requirements.

According to one embodiment of this invention, the winding sleeve is composed of a tube section that is dimensionally stable, particularly with regard to deflection, with a composition based on metal, cardboard, or a plastic such as a fiber-reinforced plastic.

According to another embodiment of this invention, the clamping or clamping means include clamping jaws positioned in the region of the insertion section, can be radially retracted and/or extended, and in the extended position, come into contact with the inside of the winding sleeve. The retraction and extension of the clamping jaws here can be carried out by compressed air, as is known in conventional winding shafts, so-called air shafts, in order to fix a winding sleeve made of cardboard or the like that has been slid on.

The winding shaft according to this invention can thus be preconfigured out of a winding sleeve and shaft journals, which are inserted with their insertion sections into the ends of the winding sleeve and locked in place, and can then then be inserted into the winding device and maneuvered like a conventional winding shaft.

Between the shaft journal and the insertion section, a transition section is provided with an outer diameter that essentially corresponds to the outer diameter of the winding sleeve and which constitutes a stop for the winding sleeve in the insertion process of the insertion section. This ensures an always definite, sufficient insertion of the insertion section into the end opening of the winding sleeve and on the other hand, makes it possible for the transition section to be produced in different widths so that the winding sleeve, despite an existing large system width of the winding device, can also be adapted as needed to a narrow width of the winding product to be wound. In this case, the transition sections of the shaft journals are embodied as significantly longer so that once again, the total length of the winding shaft that is required for the respective winding device is overall achieved.

One method according to this invention for inserting a winding shaft into the winding device is based on the fact that the winding shaft has a winding body and shaft journals situated at the ends of the winding body, with which the winding shaft is inserted into corresponding recesses in the winding device. This invention proposes performing the following steps for inserting the winding shaft into the winding device:

-   -   a) Production of a winding sleeve that is open at the ends and         comprises the winding body;     -   b) Production of shaft journals that have an insertion section         and clamping means;     -   c) Insertion of the insertion section of each of the shaft         journals into a respective end opening of the winding sleeve;     -   d) Clamping of the inserted insertion sections of the shaft         journals in the winding sleeve to form the winding shaft; and     -   e) Insertion of the winding shaft into the winding device.

In this regard, according to this invention, a winding shaft is formed by producing the open winding sleeve according to the width of the material web to be wound, inserting and clamping the shaft journals in the respective end openings of the winding sleeve, and then inserting the thus produced winding shaft into the winding device.

The clamping of the insertion section in the winding sleeve can be produced by radially extending clamping jaws out from the insertion section to the inner surface of the winding sleeve, preferably pneumatically.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other embodiments and details of the winding shaft according to this invention are explained in detail in view of the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a partial sectional view of a winding shaft according to this invention;

FIG. 2 shows a winding sleeve according to FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 shows a winding shaft according to the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 3 shows a winding shaft according to the prior art, for insertion into a correspondingly embodied winding device.

Such a winding shaft 1 includes a winding body 2 and at both ends of the winding body, shaft journals 11 are positioned on the longitudinal axis L and are configured for insertion into the winding device. The winding body 2 is embodied as intrinsically cylindrical and before being placed into use, is completed with a winding sleeve, not shown here, made of cardboard or the like, which is slid in a direction of the longitudinal axis L onto the winding body 2 so as to encompass the latter and is affixed to the winding shaft in a rotationally secured fashion by compressed air-operated clamping jaws 111 that can be radially extended out from the circumference of the winding body 2.

The cardboard sleeve that is affixed in this way can be embodied of one piece or of multiple pieces in order to thus enable a so-called multi-use winding.

After completion of the winding process, the winding shaft together with the winding that has been produced on the at least one winding sleeve is removed from the winding device and the clamping jaws 111 are retracted into the circumference of the winding body 2 by a releasing of the introduced compressed air so that the winding shaft 1 can then be removed from the at least one winding sleeve and used for a new winding.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a winding shaft 1 according to this invention, whose outer contour largely coincides with that of the winding shaft from the prior art shown in FIG. 3. In particular, the shaft journals 11 are correspondingly embodied so that such a winding shaft 1 can also be used in a winding device that is configured for winding shafts according to FIG. 3.

The winding body of the winding shaft according to FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises or is composed of a winding sleeve 10 that is open at the end and comprises or is composed, for example, of metal, which for the winding of a parent roll, is directly wound with the material web that is to be wound, for example, no other sleeve made of cardboard or the like is slid onto it as a core.

In order to use such a winding sleeve 10 with open ends 100 in a winding device for winding shafts according to the embodiment in FIG. 3, the shaft journals 11 provided at the ends are each embodied with an insertion section 110, which can each be inserted into the respective open ends 100 of the winding sleeve 10 at the two ends thereof. A transition section 112 between the insertion section 110 and the shaft journal 11 in this case forms a stop that is labeled with the reference numeral 112 a, against which the end of the winding sleeve 10 rests. In this inserted position shown in FIG. 1, the insertion sections 110 are then affixed to the inner surface I of the winding sleeve 10 in a rotationally secured fashion by a radial extension of clamping jaws 111 from the circumference of the insertion section 10. This extension can be carried out in an intrinsically known fashion by compressed air, which can be introduced, for example, via a corresponding valve and an internal compressed air line in the shaft journal 11.

In this way, a temporary, detachable connection between the two shaft journals 11 and the winding sleeve 10 is produced via the respective insertion sections 110. In this state, the winding sleeve 10 and the clamped shaft journals 11 jointly form a winding shaft 1 whose configuration corresponds to that of the winding shaft according to FIG. 3, so that they can be inserted into a correspondingly prepared winding device.

After completion of the winding procedure, the introduced compressed air is released in order to retract the clamping jaws back into the circumference of the insertion sections 110 so that the rotationally secured connection between the winding sleeve 10 and the insertion sections 110 of the shaft journals 11 is released and the latter can be removed from the end openings 100 of the winding sleeve 10. Consequently, the isolated winding sleeve 10 then remains along with the winding, not shown here, that has been wound onto it.

It is clear that through the embodiment of the winding shaft according to this invention, a winding of parent rolls with a continuous winding sleeve 10 can also be carried out in winding devices that are intrinsically embodied for accommodating conventional winding shafts 1 according to the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 3. The winding device therefore does not require any structural modification and it is possible to flexibly react to each winding task individually.

If in a winding device that is designed for large winding widths, a significantly narrower material web by contrast is to be wound onto a winding sleeve 10 of a corresponding width, then it is only necessary to correspondingly adapt the width of the transition region 112, in particular to enlarge it, so that an entirely uniform overall length of the winding shaft 1 is achieved, allowing different winding sleeve lengths to be used without having to change the width of the winding device.

With the winding shaft according to this invention, it is possible to alternatively use winding shafts or winding sleeves in a single winding device. While the use of winding shafts according to FIG. 3 makes it possible in particular to produce a multi-use winding, it is alternatively possible, through the use of a winding shaft with a continuous winding sleeve according to FIG. 1, to also wind a parent roll with a large width.

European Patent Application 14197214.1, filed 10 Dec. 2014, the priority document corresponding to this invention, to which a foreign priority benefit is claimed under Title 35, United States Code, Section 119, and its entire teachings are incorporated, by reference, into this specification. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A winding shaft (1) having a winding body and shaft journals (11) positioned at ends of the winding body and configured for insertion into a winding device, the winding shaft (1) comprising the winding body being a winding sleeve (10) open at the ends and the shaft journals (11) each has an insertion section (110) with a clamping with which they can be inserted into the ends of the winding sleeve (10) and detachably clamped to the winding sleeve (10) and together with it form the winding shaft (1).
 2. The winding shaft (1) according to claim 1, wherein the winding sleeve (10) is of a tube section with a metal-based, plastic-based, or cardboard-based composition.
 3. The winding shaft (1) according to claim 2, wherein the clamping comprises clamping jaws (111) positioned in a region of the insertion section (110), are radially retracted and/or extended and in an extended position contact an inside of the winding sleeve (10).
 4. The winding shaft (1) according to claim 3, wherein the clamping jaws (111) can be retracted and/or extended by compressed air.
 5. The winding shaft (1) according to claim 4, wherein between the shaft journals (11) and the insertion section (110), a transition section (112) is provided, with an outer diameter that essentially corresponds to a sleeve outer diameter of the winding sleeve and which forms a stop (112 a) for the winding sleeve (10) during an insertion process of the insertion section (110).
 6. A method for inserting a winding shaft (1) into a winding device; the winding shaft (1) having a winding body and shaft journals (11) positioned at ends of the winding body, with which the winding shaft is inserted into corresponding recesses in the winding device, the method including the following steps: a) producing a winding sleeve open at ends and comprising the winding body (10); b) producing shaft journals (11) having an insertion section (110) and clamping means; c) inserting the insertion section (110) of each of the shaft journals (11) into a respective end opening (100) of the winding sleeve (10); d) clamping the inserted insertion sections (110) of the shaft journals (11) in the winding sleeve (10) to form the winding shaft (1); and e) inserting the winding shaft (1) into the winding device.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the clamping of the insertion section (110) in the winding sleeve (10) is carried out by radially extending clamping jaws (111) from the insertion section (110) to an inner surface (I) of the winding sleeve (10).
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the clamping is carried out pneumatically.
 9. The winding shaft (1) according to claim 1, wherein the clamping comprises clamping jaws (111) positioned in a region of the insertion section (110), are radially retracted and/or extended and in an extended position contact an inside of the winding sleeve (10).
 10. The winding shaft (1) according to claim 9, wherein the clamping jaws (111) can be retracted and/or extended by compressed air.
 11. The winding shaft (1) according to claim 1, wherein between the shaft journals (11) and the insertion section (110), a transition section (112) is provided, with an outer diameter that essentially corresponds to a sleeve outer diameter of the winding sleeve and which forms a stop (112 a) for the winding sleeve (10) during an insertion process of the insertion section (110). 